Using multiple computers and multiple computing devices is becoming commonplace. The need or desire for people to use more than one computer in addition to mobile computing devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and mobile telephones accessing the Internet, is increasing for private and business use. These users frequently access the Internet and demand customization of their computing environments. For example, most users customize their desktop and browser settings to provide a friendly interface as well as make favorite web pages readily accessible with organized bookmark settings. Unfortunately, such settings configured on one computing device are not readily portable to other computing devices. The other computing devices typically require replicating configuration information to arrive at the preferred settings that are frequently used. Although users that interact with different computing devices on a routine basis would often benefit from having customized settings available on each device, the limited use on any one computing device does not outweigh the time and effort necessary for customization. When a user accesses the web from a public or shared host system, the web browser does not contain a user's setup and preferences, but rather those of the host system. In addition, shared access may compromise the privacy of the owner of the system as well as that of the user.
The increase in mobile computing also corresponds to concerns about privacy. Administrators of computing devices want to make sure that users are authorized to use the computer and control access to the various programs and data available from the computer. Second, users would like the freedom to use computing devices as desired without leaving readily accessible records of their activities, which are available by viewing cookies, computing or browsing histories, and the like.
As such, there is a need for a way to provide portability of customization options and settings to optimize interactions on multiple computing devices. There is a further need to address the privacy and security issues associated with computing on multiple computing devices on commercial and personal levels.